Information for 16651IIED

Moving More Money: Can aggregation catalyse off-grid financing?

The off-grid energy sector continues to have a tremendous funding gap. Aggregation has great potential to channel finance into the millions of off-grid projects and products that will make universal energy access by 2030 possible. By bringing together projects and companies into portfolios, aggregation can reduce transaction costs and mitigate risks, while opening an attractive pathway for bigger investors to move more money into off-grid energy projects. AEPC in Nepal, IDCOL in Bangladesh, and SunFunder mostly in East Africa, have all forged unique pathways to crowding in more public and private finance, and providing support beyond financing to grow off-grid markets. Public and private investors, governments, and implementing energy companies can learn from their success and failures. There is a clear need for building and tailoring aggregator platforms if the 1 billion people without electricity and 3 billion without clean cooking are to be reached.

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One in five people around the world – 1.3 billion people – lack electricity to light their homes or run their businesses, while wealthy countries consume vast amounts of electricity every day. IIED’s energy team works to promote access to sustainable energy for the poorest communities and a more equitable consumption of energy resources. Energy access is an area of great inequity. Access to sustainable modern energy services underpins health, education and livelihoods and increases resilience to climate change – yet millions of people have no access to electricity and use dangerous and unhealthy fuels for lighting and cooking.